This is a new Eclipse set in Vancouver. So, here are your first look photos at this urban set! It’s definitely a city set… I’m thinking maybe a backstory… or possibly newborns.

So the ONE day I don’t bring my camera to work, I decide to check out an Eclipse set. I apologize in advance for the photos… they were taken with my Blackberry. I may go check out the set another day or a bit later… so stay tuned as I’ll have better photos. For those of you who follow my other Twilight blog posts, you know that normally my images are much higher quality.

Here they are setting up what I believe to be a rain machine. Water will come through the tube and then is dispersed through hundreds of little holes along the beam. You can see that the buildings look old and historic, and set the scene nicely for an urban set.

Here’s another shot. I believe filming will take place in the alleyway nearby. Lots of old props are being set up… very grunge, urban items like trash cans and garbage littering the  street. They were also seen painting graffiti and other enhancements to add to the set.

So that’s just a quick preview! Hopefully I have some better photos and a better set report soon. Enjoy! Please be respectful of the photos and of course the filming locations and the crew.

You can always follow me on Twitter for more updates, and I’ll let you know if I end up getting better photos.

What scene in Eclipse do you think this set is from?

It’s the new sets for Eclipse that I find truly exciting! Being a fan of the books and the movies, it’s always interesting to see how the scenes change from the books… as well as see what each Director’s style is from one movie of the Twilight Saga to another.

I had a chance to see a new set being filmed for Eclipse… the scene where the newborns arrive in Forks. It’s a picturesque scene, with mountains and water framing the background of the shot, and a sparse unoccupied beach for the newborns to arrive on… then they disappear into the forest. The vampire newborns looked absolutely chilling, and their rugged military-like outfits along with steely, determined glares just added to the mood. Filmed early in the morning, this scene was designed to look as if it had been shot at night, possibly just after dusk or just before dawn.

Riley (Xavier Samuel) and Bree (Jodelle Ferland) were on set as well as a number of newborn vampires we have NEVER seen before.

I’m always amazed at what a huge production it is to film just a few seconds for these movies. Second Unit Director EJ Foerster was on set, calm but directive… doing dozens of different takes for only a couple scenes. An amazing number of people involved plus tons of equipment and hours of filming from so many different angles just to get a 5 second shot… wow. Check out all the equipment on the shore, including the scuba diving gear and the dinghys. You can also see some of the shorter fake trees they used in the foreground on the beach.

There are two distinct scenes… scenes where the female newborn is talking to a male newborn, and the main scene (which they spent most of the time shooting) where there are three newborns including Riley coming out of the water onto the shore. They don’t come out of the water in the books, but I think it is a nice dramatic addition.

The water here was quite cool in temperature, so I’m not surprised at all to see the actors with thin wetsuits on under their costumes. They were also given small weights under their clothing to help keep them weighed down under the water before the “take”. I have my PADI scuba diving license so I was really curious about how they were using the divers for the filming. The scuba divers served two purposes: One, to give their extra regulator to the actors so they could breathe underwater when necessary… and two, to help give the actors cues and guide them to certain checkpoints when necessary.

HD video coming soon (tomorrow night… sorry guys, I got really sick tonight).

In this scene in the video (coming soon), you’ll see the Director ask them to go underwater (“Under water!), then he counts as they are rolling with the movie cameras “OK, Riley”… then the first actor emerges (my guess is they were using “Riley” as the code word, since the first actor that emerges is NOT Riley). Then the Director calls them out “2…. and 3″… and the other actor and then Riley emerges from the water. The vampires moved slowly, slinking through the water but very clearly with purpose.

You can see from the camera that it is going to be a very tight shot with how close some of the production members are standing in the water.

Several iterations of this shot continued, with different combinations of the newborn vampires in the water. They also tried different lighting setups, either with a white sheet to bounce water off in the water, or with a large spotlight shining through a diffuser straight at the actors. The camera rig was very flexible, above to move up down and really get around the actors in any angle necessary for the shot. The actors had very pale makeup on.

I also had my suspicions confirmed by one of the PAs that the entire scene was being shot with no sound. Music and effects were to be added later in post-production. Good thing — because an entire squad of geese started squawking their hearts out during the middle of several scenes. It was hilarious.

Unfortunately I didn’t get to see Jodelle film any of her scenes (that’s not her in the water), but you can see her here grabbing some food. Her makeup was already done though, as you can see how pale she looks.

I absolutely loved visiting this set. It was one of the coolest I have seen in a while, at least since New Moon

Hope you enjoyed the photos and the video! You can always follow me on Twitter for more updates, or check here to see my other blog posts with Twilight cast members and live set filming.

Cast members, please let me know if you would like your photo/video to be removed and I will happily oblige!

Sadly did not get good quality photos tonight at the Twilight set, but it was an amazing experience. I got lucky and managed to get a great video which captures the feel of the scene, PLUS you can hear Kristen saying some of her lines! Thanks to cast and crew for being so cool!

Amy and I unfortunately got down to the set super late tonight because I had to play my (first ever) ice hockey scrimmage! I was disastrous despite all my (not-frequent-enough) practicing, but let’s leave that for another time

The set took place behind the theatre where they were filming yesterday on a long strip of road under the skytrain rails. They set up a “One-Eyed Pete” sign for the bar. Neat!

Because we got there so late, we missed all of Rob’s scenes. This is how his scenes were filmed, and how they are going to incorporate more of him into the movie than the book: In this scene in the movie, Bella leaves the theatre with Jessica (the first time she goes to the theatre, not the second time when she goes with Mike and Jacob)… and encounters a motorcycle gang. She decides to go on a joyride with one of the gang members to try to upset Edward into appearing in her head again. Only in this particular movie scene, they actually filmed Rob Pattinson standing right beside Kristen Stewart telling her not to go, with Kristen standing and talking to the gang member beside his bike. (I’m sure they’ll make him an apparition in post-production editing)

So that’s my best guess at the Bella motorcycle mystery based on what I saw on set. This scene is not like New Moon… in the book, her and Jessica see the gang members sitting in a pub through the window. There was never any motorcycle scenes. The ones ones in the book are with Taylor Lautner on dirtbikes and he wasn’t there. (He was filming the scenes where he jumped from Bella’s window at the Swan house set tonight) What do you think? Why is Kristen on a motorcycle when it’s not in the books?

So check out this video. SO COOL! I am so stoked to actually see this in person. I definitely CANNOT wait for the movie to come out. The motorcycle scene was shot 3 different ways: 1 with Kristen riding on the motorcycle with the gang member… shot from the front. One shot from the side, and one shot with the bike hooked up to a truck so that they could shoot close-up head-on shots. You can see this in the video.

Listen carefully — you can hear the director often yelling “ROLLING!”… “CUT”.. “3..2..1.. ACTION!” and the best part… near the end of the video clip, you can hear Kristen saying some of Bella’s lines… “Stop! STOP!” when the motorcycle gets going fast. Aaaaaaah! My guess is that they cut to the scene of Rob asking her to stop before she yells “Stop!” when they edit it all together.

And let me just say this — Kristen Stewart is one HECK of a cool chica. She did ALL her stunts tonight, at least the ones that I saw. Props for braving it out in the cold Vancouver night on a motorcycle all evening. Major Kudos, Kristen!

Here’s some more pics from the set…

Kristen walking with the gang member (not rolling)… Anyone recognize him? Or is he a stunt person as well as an actor?

Seriously cool camera rig… wish I had that

One of the motorcycles from the set! SO COOL!

Water truck spraying everything down to look wet…

And hmmmmm… Rob? Or Not Rob? Your guess is as good as mine!

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What a fun night! Hope you enjoyed the pics and the videos. Time to hit the sack for me, I’m exhausted. I may sleep for days OK that’s not true, I’ll be up for the Canucks Round 2 Game 2 in less than 12 hours. GO CANUCKS GO!

If any cast members would like their photos removed, I would be happy to do so. Thanks for letting us come out, watch the set, and take photos! We are very grateful.

Wow, what a night!

@amyburrows and I had a great night out at the new theatre set for Twilight’s New Moon in Vancouver. They are filming all the exterior shots at this theatre. Again, two scenes happen here… one where Bella and Jessica go to Port Angeles for a movie, and a second scene where Bella, Mike, and Jacob have that awkward movie date with that scary movie, “The Dead Come Back.”

The crew and security at the set tonight were great. They were very friendly, nice, and appropriately strict. Appreciate you folks doing a great job! Everyone was safe and had fun.

There were a number of sidewalk shots, but most of the scenes were shot under the theatre overhang. Cranes and rigs held large diffused light globes, and the sidewalks were lined with bright lights. Plus two spotlights at each end of the block. This was the closest many fans have ever gotten to a Twilight set. It was incredible.

This was my first sighting of Chris Weitz, so it was great to see the New Moon director in a fabulous white sweater with a really cool black red and white scarf and jeans.

Mike Welch was looking dapper in a tan spring jacket and light blue button up shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers. Perfect for a date night out with Bella.

Taylor Lautner was in full getup as Jacob, and he looked good. Black jacket, dark shirt, and blue jeans. Wig looked great tonight and Taylor looked more chiseled than ever.

Got to see some scenes where Kristen was talking to Mike. I think she looks especially cute in this photo.

Didn’t get to see too much of Mike, but he seemed very comfortable on set and had a good time with the rest of the cast.

Got to see some pretty cool running scenes with Taylor Lautner. He looked very much in shape. Didn’t seem out of breath at all! (Great job Taylor’s dad and trainer )

I’m still trying to figure out which scene in the book this is from. I don’t seem to remember him sprinting anywhere in the book during the movie scene.

His wig looked awesome

So awesome. TEAM JACOB!

Eventually they brought a truck by to spray the sidewalks down with water to make it look like it had just rained. They also sprayed the cars. Security joked with us that if we got wet they weren’t liable. It was fun to watch them set this scene up.

They started removing some of the screens in front of the set. Very cool things: They changed the sign on the theatre to “The Dead Come Back” and added an original movie poster!

I LOVE THIS MOVIE POSTER. I’m so glad they actually made a custom poster for the movie. How awesome would it be to get a print of one of these?

They had a ton of lights set up. I’m really surprised at how much it lit up the set at night.

Got to see Kristen Stewart and Anna Kendrick as Bella and Jessica.

Anna checks her script.

They both looked beautiful. Kristen as “Bella” was wearing a dark coat, with a blue hoodie and a casual shirt underneath, with blue jeans and Nike sneakers. A likely Bella costume! Anna as “Jessica” was wearing a very cute houndstooth pattern brown jacket with pockets, with a pink, coral and white shirts underneath. I like the necklace they chose for her. Blue jeans as well.

They seemed to get along really well on set. Both were laughing and talking almost the entire time they were shooting or relaxing on set.

Ladies looked lovely!

Getting their make-up checked on. I liked the subtle makeup they’ve been using for these characters. Really suits them.

ROLLING! Actual on-set movie footage.

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Fun night! Hope everyone enjoyed the photos. I’ll have some videos to put up soon too, but it’s time for bed. Hopefully I’ll have ‘em up on the weekend. Enjoyed meeting everyone tonight at the set! You’re all cool chicas… nice to meet the new folks as well as see the regulars.

Oh yeah, Team Jacob!

Now that Amy and I have been lucky enough to get some photos of the wonderful cast of New Moon, we wanted to check out some of the sets we haven’t had a chance to see yet. Mandy was gracious enough to fill us in on the location of the new pool set. So we headed on down there on a quick dinner break from work.

This set is where they are filming the special effects green screen scene of Bella’s Cliff Dive in La Push in New Moon. Kristen Stewart, Rachelle Lefevre, Taylor Lautner, and Rob Pattinson were all filming at the secret outdoor pool location today (just for the one day).

In this scene, Bella jumps off the cliff, a flash of Victoria is seen in the background, and Bella plunges into the ocean and sees Edward’s “face” underwater. She is then rescued by Jacob.

The crew had set up a complex special effects scene at the public outdoor pool with a number of layered green screens set up high above the pool. They also used a number of cranes and rigs to help block out the direct sunlight (it was bright and hot today).

Security was tight again, and no one could see into the pool, but fans saw Taylor Lautner who came out to sign autographs and take photos. When Amy and I got there, we saw Kristen Stewart walk into the pool set shielded by umbrellas from fans.

Overall it looks like a really cool set! Kudos to the crew for rigging up such a complicated set. My guess would be they filmed some footage in Tofino of the cliffs, and are going to composite it into the water scenes here at the pool.

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Tomorrow is Game #4 of the Canucks playoffs series. Can’t wait! Go Canucks Go!